Cumberland County Center for Autism in the works, needs nonprofit status and grants

View full sizeCathy Cramer/The NewsAlyssa Russick (right) makes a craft at Puzzle Peace Moms with teen assistant Samantha Hines (left). Her mother Barb is working on starting the first Cumberland County Center for Autism.

MILLVILLE — The new Cumberland County Center for Autism is in the works and could be open by this time next year.

The mother of a 14-year-old autistic teen and founder of support group Puzzle Peace Moms has been laying the ground work for two years, getting community support, raising funds and attracting the attention of local officials.

She’s wanted a center for autism in Cumberland County for years.

“Right now, we’re looking at the old Millville Development Corporation (MDC) building across the street from Wawa on Route 49,” Russick said. “I’m so excited about this.”

She called it a “long-awaited dream come true.”

“When I started Puzzle Peace Moms, a center for autism was always a long-term goal,” Russick said.

Her group meets during the first and third Friday of each month at Mount Pleasant Church social hall on Pearl Street in Millville.

There are some major steps Russick and her group need to take before they become the county’s go-to center for those seeking education or help for a child living with autism.

This comes as good news as studies show the rate of autism increasing each year.

According to Autism Speaks, a website dedicated to educating communities on autism statistics throughout the United States, 1 in 88 children currently have some form of autism.

Of them, one in 54 are boys.

The website also suggests that more children will be diagnosed with autism in 2012 than AIDS, diabetes and cancer combined.

“It’s the fastest-growing disability in the United States,” Russick said. “And the statistics for Cumberland County are not good.”

That’s why she’s starting the autism center.

Her vision for the center was initiated during a meeting last January at the Salem County Center for Autism, which is located at 192 North Broadway in Pennsville.

Russick was accompanied by fellow Puzzle Peace Mom Mandy Greensmith, who encouraged her to start the center.

“Prior to the meeting, Barb was kind of down and there was really nothing moving forward,” Greensmith said. “But the director of the Salem center kept saying they ‘jumped in feet first.’ So I told Barb, ‘If they jumped in feet first, you gotta go in full-body.’ It’s been a whirlwind ever since.”

With the nonprofit status, the new center will be eligible for tax-exemption, helping the center focus its fundraising on setting long-term goals.

To start, Russick hopes to designate areas of the building for music therapy, arts and crafts, learning life skills and the new Lego therapy.

Larger goals include accepting insurance of children with autism and providing full-service therapy.

“The center will be open throughout the day, and at night from around 6 to 8 (p.m.) we will have activities for the children and support meetings for the parents,” Russick explained. “But this is not to be confused with a daycare. There services are free; and if a parent says they need something, we work to get it.”

Perhaps this is a glimmer of hope for Bridgeton, which just made a state list for having on of the highest rates of autism in the state, along with five other communities outside the county.

The study was released last Wednesday, and interviewed teachers as a way to evaluate autistic students.

Of the roughly 1,000 children evaluated from Newark, Plainfield, Elizabeth, Trenton, New Brunswick and Bridgeton, 3 percent were found to be living with autism.

Another nationwide study released in March revealed about 1 in 50 children were diagnosed with the disorder in New Jersey.

The study by the Center of Disease Control named the Garden State as the second-highest in the nation behind Utah, where the rate is 1 in 47.

“We’re standing on the edge of the pool with our toes just touching the water,” Russick said. “As soon as we receive our nonprofit status and a grant to start-up and a few other little things, we’ll be opening.”